Education in Chad: in a state of decline

This year in Chad only 9% of students passed their high school leaving exams. Reorganising these exams is not the solution. We need to re-examine the whole education system, encouraging all those involved to wake up and take stock, says Kagbe Rachel.

The results of
this year’s baccalaureate high school leaving exam were officially announced by
the Chadian Prime Minister, Emmanuel Nadingar in August: only 9% of students
had passed and 91% had failed. Nadingar’s announcement contradicted a previous
announcement made by the President of the examination panel via radio on July
31st in which it was claimed that 27.63% of all candidates - 19,307 out of 69,919 - had passed. These terrible results are in
stark contrast with those of other African countries which hold baccalaureate
exams. Cameroon boasts a pass rate of 53.50%, for example, whilst Burkina Faso
has a pass rate of 35.1%.

The baccalaureate is the exam which marks the end of
secondary school and the beginning of higher education. Students take the
examat the end of a seven year programme of secondary
studies which spans ‘class 6’ to final year (Terminale). The baccalaureate is based on the French education
system and is roughly equivalent to British A-level exams.

Following the announcement that the 2012 baccalaureate
results had been partially withdrawn,the Minister of Higher Education in charge
of organising the exams was removed from his position. The new Minister was tasked
with organising a special resit that would help to improve the pass rate. This
took place between the 2nd and 5th of October. As we
await the results, the return to school for the academic year 2012-13 which was
officially launched on October 2nd has been suspended, thereby
cutting a month off the academic year.

How did we get to this point?

The Chadian
education system: in a state of crisis

According to the United Nations Development Programme,
just 36.5% of all children of school-going age are enrolled in school in Chad.
This places Chad amongst one of the least advanced countries in this area,
ranked 163rd by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in
2010. Government spending on education represents just 2% of national GDP, which
is one of the lowest levels in the world. In stark terms, just 10.4% of the
State’s 2012 general budget was committed to education.

The disastrous baccalaureate results pushed the
President of the Republic, Idriss Déby Itno to call for the organisation of the
first ever Forum on
the Chadian education system, which took place from the 10th to the 15th
of September. In his opening speech, the President promised to double
the budget allocated to teaching. Up to now the State has invested 150 billion
FCFA ($300 million US dollars) in the education system. Starting from next
year, this will rise to 300 billion ($600 million US dollars) - 20% of the
national budget.

Given its starting point as one of the lowest ranking
countries for education in the world, Chad has already made some important
progress in school outreach in the last decade. Between 1998/99 and 2003/4, for
example, there was a strong rise in school enrolments at all levels, with enrolments in primary schools
rising from 70% to 88%. Idriss Déby Itno’s so-called ‘social’ five year term since
2006 has also been marked by extensive building and construction works; in the
education sector he has prioritised repairs, new building work and the
maintenance of school establishments as well as the improvement of teaching
resources. Yet these efforts have ultimately constituted a stab in the dark
since the proposed solutions, identified and pursued by those at the top, are
disconnected from the growing demands of the sector itself.

The
need for comprehensive reform

According to a document published in March 2012 by the
four ministers in charge of education in Chad entitled, ‘Key assessments of
education sector in Chad’, 80% of community based schools and public schools
are located in rural areas where they welcome 67% of the national student
population. These schools remain seriously under-resourced in terms of both infrastructure
and access. Some schools have no classrooms and students take their lessons on
the floor under straw covers or shelters made from millet stems. The teaching staff
also lack crucial means for their work.

The poor infrastructure has generated problems of over-crowding
in rural schools, some of which host 100 to 200 students per class. Picture it:
you have three or four students sat at each table and others sat around it or
standing up. Teachers struggle to give their lessons in these conditions.

Yet the problem is not just one of numbers and
infrastructure. When it comes to the quality of teaching in Chad indicators
are also poor, “this is due, in part, to the lack of qualified teachers”,
explains Faïtchou Etienne, Minister of Primary and Civic Education. In Chad, uncertified
community teachers (maîtres communautaires) and
temporary staff (enseignants vacataires)
make up 70% of the total workforce.

Abuses of power
and responsibility

The chaos of the Chadian education system is the
perfect recipe to encourage abuses of power and irresponsibility. A maths
teacher I know took the baccalaureate four times without passing. In the
end his father bought it for him and he was hired as a civil servant. He now
teaches maths to secondary school classes and passes the young girls in return
for sexual favours, and in return for cash from the boys. Without any training,
and devoid of morals and respect for the teacher-student hierarchy which puts a
barrier between the two parties, this young ‘professor’ is sadly not alone in
such behaviour. The lack of opportunities to take legal action against such
individuals does little to discourage this type of attitude. One young girl in her
first year who was being harassed by her teacher, and refused to give in to his
advances, had to turn to her brother. He went to threaten the school
administration, causing a scandal so that the abuse would stop. She had to
change school that year in order to be able to study in peace. It seems that
many - like these men - embrace the career of teaching not for passion but
because they have no other choice. What is worrying is that individuals like
this do not appear to have any trouble getting places at official teaching
centres.

One proposed solution to the poor teaching problem has
recently been advocated by the President himself: “I call on the Government to
amplify its efforts to improve teachers’ working conditions, orientation
structures, equipment, teaching materials and to issue more political guidance
on the matter.” Faïtchou Etienne has also made his promises: “my department is
in the process of finalising a strategy which foresees a huge teacher
recruitment drive in Écoles normales d'instituteurs (teacher
training colleges for primary schools) and Écoles normales supérieures (higher
teacher training schools) coupled with the continued vocational training of
community teachers”. These efforts should be welcomed, but they will not solve
all the problems; they will not solve the educational crisis currently facing
Chad.

From the
conditions outlined above it is evident that the reorganisation of the
baccalaureate exam is no solution to the educational crisis; it is akin sweeping
a whole host of issues under the carpet. We need to re-examine the whole education
system, encouraging all those involved to wake up and take stock. The
government should focus its efforts on identifying and tackling the root issues
of the situation. Without this, the already very low level - and the abuses of
power it gives rise to - will continue to soar to the detriment of our country’s
development.

Kagbe Rachel is from Chad where she has worked as a freelance journalist for seven years. Her articles cover subjects linked to education, women’s rights and health. She currently works full time for a Chadian company as a communications manager. She has previously worked with women’s community groups and anti-malaria initiatives.

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